Improvement in slate-cleaning blocks



A. H. BRYANT.

SLATE-CLEANING BLOCK.

Patented N01}. 23, 1875.

Trig. a.

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NJEETERS. FHOTO-LITNOGRAPMER, WASHINGTON, D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABNER H. BRYANT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SLATE-CLEANING BLOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 170,340, dated November 23, 1875; application filed I November 1, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ABNER H. BRYANT, of the city of Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Slate-Erasers and I hereby declare the following to be a full and accurate description of the same, reference being had to'the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, forming a part of this specification.

Figure 1 represents a strip of wood properly sawed out, from which the bodies of my erasers are cut. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my eraser. Fig. 3 is a similar view looking at the bottom of the same.

A is the body of the eraser. B is the skin, felt, cloth, or similar material attached to the same. H is the handle.

My improvement does not consist in the attachment of skin, felt, cloth, or other similar material to wood, or other similar surfaces, to produce the soft, inflexible surface for erasing the marks of a slate-pencil made upon a slate, as I am aware that such combinations have heretofore been made for the purpose of erasures, and also for the purposes of hat-brushes, and the like; but my improvement consists in the manner of forming the body of theeraser, and of attaching the skin, felt, cloth, 8210., to such body, having reference to simplicity, cheapness, and effectiveness in the construction and use of the same.

In the structure of my eraser I am careful not to bend the skin, felt, cloth, or other substance over the edge of the body, because by so doing the edge'of the skin, felt, cloth,

or other substance presents a rounded form, which, instead of scraping or wiping off the dust of the pencil from the surface of the slate, overrides the same, and takes up the dust in the skin, felt, cloth, &c., and thus soon fouls or glazes over the surface of the eraser, and renders it comparatively ineffective and useless.

To obviate this I use substantial skin, as of chamois, or felt, or firm cloth, or other similar material, and cut the edges of the same perpendicular to the sides and ends of the body of the eraser, so as to present a square edge, or sharp angle, of the skin, felt, cloth, or other similar material to wipe or scrape off the dust of the pencil from the surface of the slate.

My mode of making the eraser is as follows: I first'prepare the wooden body of the same, as seen in Fig. 2. I then spread smoothly upon a table the skin, felt, cloth, &c., to be used as a wiper. Then, taking the wooden body, as in Fig. 2, I cover the bottom of the same with a glue properly prepared, and then press the same upon the skin, felt, cloth, &c., firmly. I proceed in this way until the skin, felt, cloth, &c., is fully covered with the Wooden bodies of the erasers, nearly touching each other at their sides and ends. The skin or sheet being thus covered, the same is carefully removed from the table and left to dry, when the same is cut apart by a thin, sharp knife, and the, eraser is complete.

The Wooden body of the eraser is formed as follows: I prepare the wood for making the same by cutting it into strips of the width of the eraser, and of a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the bottom, and the height of the handle of the body of the eraser. I then cut the corners from these strips, leaving the handle standing as a continuous strip, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. These strips are then out into the appropriate lengths for the eraser, and the corners of each handle are cut or shaped as seen in Fig. 1.

Having thus fully set forth and described the nature of my said improvement, and the method of constructing the same, I will state my claim.

I claim As a new article of manufacture, a slateeraser consisting of the thin flat body or block A, having a central rib or handle, H, at right angles to said body, and in one piece with'the same, and an erasing-cushion, B, of skin, felt,

or cloth, attached to the under. side of said body, and presenting a cut edge flush with the sides or edges .of the block, substantially as described.

ABNER, H. BRYANT. In presence of A. L. OHETLAIN, H. H. BLAKE. 

